Electrical power distribution busway housings are used to enclose and support electrically conductive busbars in a power distribution busway system. Typically, the busway housing includes a pair of opposed walls which extend longitudinally generally parallel to one another. A second pair of walls also extend longitudinally and generally parallel to one another but perpendicular to the first pair of opposed walls. This creates a four sided structure for containing the electrically conductive busbars.
The walls of the second pair often include extensions which extend perpendicularly therefrom to create a generally U-shaped channel. The extensions are disposed adjacent the first pair of walls for attachment thereto by welding or other appropriate methods of fastening. However, this type of housing is problematic since it is of a fixed size. In other words, the housing is designed to accommodate one configuration of busbars, where other configurations require a separate housing of different proportions.
Other types of busway housings are formed of sheet steel appropriately bent to provide the housing with a generally rectangular cross-section. The sheet steel is formed into two generally U-shaped sections which are affixed together, usually by welding, to provide top, bottom and side walls. Often the top and bottom walls are formed to include small channels that add structural rigidity. As with the housing discussed above, this type of housing is problematic since it lacks adjustability. Also, this type of housing generally does not include integral mounting flanges for mounting the power distribution busway in the floors or ceilings of a facility.
Still other power distribution systems use busways having a top channel and a bottom channel disposed on the top and bottom of a stack of electrically conductive busbars, respectively. Such channels typically include flanges disposed outwardly from the busbar stack to facilitate attachment of the top channel to the bottom channel or attachment of the housing at a particular location. The channel sections are appropriately sized so the top and bottom channels are brought into mating engagement with each other when tightened about a particular stack of busbars. Usually the channel sections are attached to one another by fasteners, such as bolts, that extend directly through the stack of busbars or through flanges which extend outwardly from the busbar stack from each channel section. This type of housing is also limited to a single busbar stack configuration having a stack of conductive busbars appropriately sized to fit within the preformed channel sections.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a busway housing with one set of components which are configurable to accept various busbar stack configurations.